June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks were little changed
as losses in telephone companies offset an advance among raw-materials producers.

A group of telephone companies fell 0.6 percent as
Macquarie Group Ltd. said the industry will face higher
operating risks because of regulation in the next few years.
Commodity shares gained 1.1 percent, the most among 10
industries, as copper rose for a seventh day. SNC Lavalin Group
Inc. rose 1.7 percent after saying it would buy Kentz Corp. for
1.16 billion pounds ($1.97 billion), shoring up its oil industry
engineering capability.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index fell 3.34 points, or less
than 0.1 percent, to 15,105.63 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge
is up 3.4 percent this month.

Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver said the country’s
inflation rate will stay near the central bank’s 2 percent
target after an unexpected jump in May.

SNC Lavalin, Canada’s largest engineering company, gained
1.7 percent to C$53.31 after announcing the deal. SNC Lavalin
said it expects Kentz to contribute to earnings within the first
year.

HudBay Minerals Inc. fell 2.3 percent to C$10.05 after
saying it would buy August Resource Corp. for about C$436
million. The company already controls 16 percent of Augusta,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Augusta gained 7.5
percent to C$3.44.

Aecon Group Inc. rose 5 percent to C$16.58 after getting a
C$123 million contract from Fort Hills Energy LP to develop a
project in the Alberta oil sands.